Michael Reidel Versus

[CapnHook]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 1:01am

I couldn't sleep, and when I can't sleep I put on DVD's and listen to the audio commentary because I usually don't get around to listening to them. I put in the film SHOW BUSINESS: THE ROAD TO BROADWAY (which, yes, does has a film commentary and I HIGHLY recommend it! It becomes a whole new film.) The commentary is by the director, producer Alan Cumming and one of the docu-subjects, Jeff Marx.

During one of the scenes, the subject of Michael Reidel comes up and Alan Cumming mentions an incident that happened during an interview backstage at the Tony Awards. On the subject of Bernadette Peters in GYPSY:

Cumming to Reidel: "Isn't it interesting that you've become this kind of celebrity for really berating this artist who is in trouble."

Reidel: "I saw an opening and I went for it."

Cumming: "Thank you for being so honest about your character. This interview is over."

The director of SHOW BUSINESS adds that Reidel was punched in the face by director David Leaveaux during a fist-fight at Angus.

This is all too fascinating to me. There must be SO many stories. I kind of want to make a documentary called "Michael Reidel Versus."

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 1:03am

I kind of want to make a documentary called "Michael Reidel Versus."

No, then I would envision him bullriding, and we don't need that.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 1:57am

I wouldn't want to give him that kind of attention. I don't think Alan Cumming is all that much better, though. Sounds like he asked a question in such a way as to to elicit a specific response, then shut Riedel (it's Riedel, btw, not Reidel) down for giving it. Not that Riedel didn't deserve it, but they make a pretty smarmy pair.

As to the Leveaux incident, there was no fistfight involved. Riedel repeatedly got in Leveaux's face, taunting him about Fiddler, and in Leveaux's words "I felt he needed to be on the ground", and put him there, whether by punch or by shove - accounts vary. End of the "fight". Riedel was fine, breaking only his watchband, and admitted he'd been drunk at the time. He as much as apologized for it later. Angus, the proprietor of the establishment, threw Riedel out that night, and later, when he was on Theatertalk, told Riedel "If you'd said to me what you said to [Leveaux], I would have broken more than your watch".

Riedel is an attention whore who loves to be hated. He thrives on it. I truly think that he's not a well man.
Updated On: 6/2/10 at 01:57 AM

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 6:30am

"Riedel is an attention whore who loves to be hated. He thrives on it. I truly think that he's not a well man."

Amen to that!

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 9:50am

He's a gossip columnist for the New York Post.

All questions are answered by that statement.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 9:53am

"He as much as apologized for it later."

What exactly does that mean?

[AC126748]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 10:10am

He's a gossip columnist for the New York Post.

All questions are answered by that statement.

Exactly. Gossip columnists thrive on attention and drama, no matter what field they cover. Riedel is no different. And since we sit around here every Wednesday and Friday discussing his column, I'd say he's succeeding.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 10:28am

Riedel, when he's on fire, is fantastic.

But he's been phoning it in ever since Patrick Healy started at the Times.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 11:17am

Like That Perez Creature, people are just losing interest. It won't be long before he picks a fight to stay "current". Oh, wait, he already did with Nathan Lane. Nobody cared. Moving on...

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 2:17pm

"He as much as apologized for it later."

"What exactly does that mean?"

Here's an an excerpt from the NY Times article linked below, Reg:

Speaking about the fracas, Mr. Riedel, who has extended an invitation to Mr. Leveaux to make up, sounded uncharacteristically conciliatory. 'David was obviously very sensitive after receiving a bad review from The New York Times,' he said. 'Look, we columnists mock and ridicule, and perhaps we sometimes forget that artists put a lot of effort into these shows.'

No, it's not an out and out "I'm sorry", which is why I qualified it by "as much as" - but coming from the mouth of the guy who was punched and/or pushed to the floor, his tone reads to me as at least a little regretful of his actions that precipitated the fracas.


The Times article Updated On: 6/2/10 at 02:17 PM